Scott Yaeger

Founding Chairman 1987 – 1989
Chairman 2004 – 2005

Scott Yaeger, the founding Chairman of the AFS in 1987, began his career in the filtration industry in 1976 with P & S Textiles as a field sales representative. He has spent close to 30 years in the industry with a variety of companies including Sartorius, Cuno, Gelman Sciences, GAF, Parker Hannifin, PTI Advanced Filtration and Filter Specialists holding positions as diversified as Marketing Manager, Production Manager, Technical Service Manager, Director of Marketing, VP Engineering, Business Unit VP, Business Unit Director, General Manager, VP and Senior VP and General Manager, Executive VP Business Development, and VP of Asian Business Development. He and his wife Deborah have been married for 37 years and have 4 children and currently have 9 grandchildren with 2 more on the way. He has a BS Degree from Clarkson University.

In addition to AFS Chairman, Scott was the Program Chairman and Chairman of the Bay Area Chapter of the Filtration Society. In addition, he was on the Board of Directors of “The Filtration Society”. Scott has written and presented over 50 papers at a variety of conferences including the World Filtration Congress, AFS, NAMS, PDA, ISPE, Membrane Technology and Planning Conference, ASM, etc. He currently teaches the AFS Advanced Short Course on Membranes.

Why did you join the AFS and the Filtration Industry?

I first became involved in the filtration industry to utilize my educational background in Chemistry, Physics, and Industrial Distribution. As Rick Herrara stated in the previous Chairman’s article, I found the industry very challenging due to the variety of applications, technologies, and solutions to industrial F & S problems. I felt it was important to disseminate the knowledge of the leaders in the industry to academic, manufacturers, and users of F & S products and services as there was little in the way of formal education on these subjects. With the help of Wells Shoemaker, I got involved with the Bay Area Chapter of “The Filtration Society” and never looked back. This involvement lead to my taking a leadership role in “The Filtration Society” and the formation of the AFS.

What changes (technology, economic, government, environmental, etc.) have had the greatest impact on the filtration industry?

The majority of my career has been in the microporous membrane sector of the F & S industry. In this area, one of the changes that have had a significant impact was the invention of non cellulose hydrophilic membranes and PTFE membranes. This allowed significantly greater penetration of microporous membranes into Biopharmaceutical and Microelectronics Market. It allowed for the proliferation of pleated cartridges. Without these inventions we would not have the safety and efficacy of many of our current injectable ethical drugs and the size, sophistication and scope of Integrated Circuit manufacturing.

Where do you see the filtration industry in 5 to 10 years?

I foresee a continuous expansion of our industry with greater demand coming from Asia and the Third World. It will play a significant role in protecting our environment and the citizens of the world from natural and terrorist related disasters. I also see a need for new filtration platforms and materials. It has been predicted that there is only about 4 more generations of Integrated Circuits that will follow Moore’s Law with the current manufacturing technology due to the limits of the techniques and cleanliness of the process. This will most likely lead to a technology change that will require a major reduction in allowable contaminant levels in the materials used to manufacture these new devices.